thoughtless ramblings

At approximately 5 P.M. today, 25th October 2007, my cat Kiki passed away.

Our faithful companion for more than 11 years, she was both a source of great frustration and conversely, great happiness.

The frustration stems mostly from the fact that as she grew older, she began to defecate and vomit around the house more often. Though this was irritating to the extreme, it did not cause us to love her any less.

An oddball right from birth, she never openly liked us to stroke her or pet her and would bite us if we did. But despite her aggressiveness, she could not disguise the purring and playful manner in which she delivered her casual rebukes.

Here is a cat who is able to crack open bones with her teeth, yet can't bite us hard enough to draw blood? Seems pretty odd to me.

Kiki was a playful cat and often lost her balance while either playing with us, or entertaining herself. Many a times we have watched her fall off from the sofa or coffee table, pick herself up and walk away with a slightly hurt pride. But nevertheless, she retained her playfulness, right up till she got sick.

It began about three weeks ago, when she lost her appetite and refused to eat or drink. Over the course of a week, her skin began to turn from a healthy pink to a shade of sallow yellow. The vet's initial prognosis said that she was suffering from liver failure and prescribed a course of medicine for her, telling us that if she did not recover after taking the medicine, we should put her down for her own good.

During this period, she became very much attached to us and tried to spend as much time with us like never before. It was as if she knew that she did not have many days left and wanted to be with us more.

I never imagined it was possible for me to cry, seeing her sleep on my bed.

A week ago, she was admitted into Mount Pleasant Animal's Hospital and had an operation done to insert a tube into her throat in order for us to administer forced-feeding. But she was too weak to recover from all that, and passed on late today afternoon.

I have been dreading this day ever since she fell ill and now that she's really gone, I can't believe that it's real.

It is never easy to lose a member of the family.

Kiki, you have been a wonderful cat. Though I do not know if you were in pain throughout, but even if you were, you were very brave. It is too late to say this now, but we will always remember you and your place in our hearts will never be replaced.

Goodbye.